


dashing to your door

by daxiaohua



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Gen, M/M, is the gig economy neo culture technology, perhaps i am bitter after working in restaurants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 23:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19161370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daxiaohua/pseuds/daxiaohua
Summary: "Honestly, the entire gig economy is garbage and can eat my ass."Dongyoung works in a noodle shop and is still thirsty. Yoonoh needs a new job. They both hate late-stage capitalism.





	dashing to your door

**Author's Note:**

> SURPRISE WIFEY IT'S ME I MADE AN ACCOUNT TO POST THIS.
> 
> the gig economy doesn't adequately compensate workers for their time or labor but capitalism is slowly trying to phase us all out of a job!!! vive la socialism i guess

_Dumb fucking name,_ Dongyoung seethes. _Dumb fucking restaurant._ He shakes the pan and flicks his wrist, tossing the noodles in the air. They land sort of gracefully. He grabs a pair of chopsticks and slurps up one of the noodles-- _needs more peanut,_ he thinks, scooping up some with his other hand and sprinkling it over the top.

 

In Dongyoung’s opinion, whoever thought it was a good idea to name a restaurant _Got Noods?_ in a college town deserves to be sent straight to the deepest pits of hell. And by whoever, he means Taeil, who also thought it would be a great idea to have fun nicknames _on their nametags_. He’s put a pink smiley face sticker over the middle of his, which would otherwise spell out “Do It Young,” which had sent Donghyuck into hysterics.

 

“You’re out of the Dong Squad,” he’d wheezed, “gotta put that Dong away, you’re too old now,” to which Dongyoung had smacked his arm and hissed, “ _That was never a thing._ ”

 

That asshole. Haechan is a cute name; he doesn't understand his pain. This is why Jeno--sweet, sweet No-Jaem Jeno--is his favorite.

 

But if the restaurant were to burn down now, in the middle of dinner service on the first day of exam week, when the kitchen is suddenly slammed and their kitchen manager is out sick, asking Dongyoung--who, he would like to note, has _sworn off line work forever_ for a _reason_ \--to “keep an eye on the kitchen and maybe help out a little, it'll be fine, right?”, and he can hear yelling outside, and now Jeno is poking his head into the kitchen asking for him in the front…

 

Every person for themselves, is all he’s saying. Jeno’s a smart boy. He can find the fire exit just fine.

 

Dongyoung sighs and shoves his hair out of his face, wipes his hands on his apron. "What the fuck is it?" he asks. The boy’s face falls. Dongyoung feels like he’s kicked a puppy.

 

"It’s this card--it won’t swipe. But the guy won’t leave without the food? He says he works for... Doordash?"

 

Dongyoung curses under his breath. Those motherfuckers and their robot calls and their stupid red cards. He stomps out the kitchen to give this guy a piece of his mind. “I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t let you take this if you--" and he stops.

 

Fuck dammit, Jeno hadn’t mentioned he was _hot_.

 

The man looks up, scowling, his perfect brows furrowing into a glare. "Look, ‘Do Young,’ or whoever the fuck you are, I don’t have time for this. I have three more pickups to do. I was supposed to be done ten minutes ago. I put the fucking money on my card, _your_ card reader’s probably broken, and I _have to go._ "

 

Hottest fuckboy he’s ever seen in his life or not, Dongyoung is trying to run a _business_. "My name’s Dongyoung, actually," he starts.

 

"Dongyoung, Do Young--Kirby, I don’t give a shit. Just give me the food and I can get out of your life." The guy rakes his fingers through his pink hair. "Like, maybe they’ll pay you back later, or something, I don’t know how this shit works."

 

"Actually," pipes up Donghyuck with a shit-eating grin from where he’s bussing a table with one hand and looking at his phone with another, "I think if this happens, you’re supposed to pay for it with your own credit card and they’ll reimburse you." He looks up and winks at Dongyoung. This fucker. If Dongyoung has to hear about “tsun-tsun flirting” one more time he might go apoplectic.

 

"Donghyuck, get back to work, you cretin," Dongyoung snaps. The boy salutes cheekily and picks up the stack of dishes. He turns to face Hottie McHotterson. "But you heard him. You have another card on you or...?"

 

“That’s bullshit. What if I didn’t have a high credit limit? They really fucking hate the poor, huh?… Ugh, fine." He digs around in his beat-up wallet and pulls out a custom card with...

 

"Is that Leonardo DiCaprio doing the Titanic hold?"

 

The man’s face turns as pink as his hair. "It’s a _classic scene_ ," he hisses.

 

Dongyoung snickers. ”Yeah, but normally Kate Winslet’s face isn’t covered by a bank logo," Dongyoung squints at the name on the card, "Jaehyun."

 

"It’s… it’s Yoonoh, actually," he says with a grimace. Dongyoung raises his eyebrows, trying not to look too smug. From the way that Yoonoh’s face falls guiltily, it didn’t work. “Look, I’m _really_ fucking sorry. Names are hard and I try to respect that, but I was up all night grading, I have a paper due soon but I also have to pay rent, and I’m so sick of this _fucking_ app but nowhere else is hiring on such short notice so close to the summer. Your place is super nice, my roommate gets takeout a lot from here, your noodles are the shit.” Yoonoh blinks. Dongyoung doesn’t think that he breathed once during that sentence.

 

He’s hit with a wave of fondness for the man, who looks suddenly exhausted. He can see the rumpled short-sleeve button down, the bags underneath his eyes, the messy hair and greasy roots, and still Yoonoh is so fucking hot. How dare he be so hot.

 

"No worries," he says, finding he almost means it. “This is one of those UberEats kinds of things, right? Except they didn’t even ask us to join their service. Fuck Doordash.”

 

" _Fuck_ Doordash. Honestly, the entire gig economy is garbage and can eat my ass."

 

This startles a laugh out of Dongyoung. "Then why do it, if you don’t mind me asking? You hardly seem like the guy who..." He gestures awkwardly with both hands, hoping he’ll get the idea.

 

"Oh, you know, the usual. Broke grad student, work your own hours, that kind of shit. But I’m starting to think this isn’t worth it--not the cost to my sanity, or my dignity, although honestly considering what just happened, I guess I’ve already given up on that." Yoonoh snorts.

 

"Hey, it’s fine, really. Shit happens. Oh, while we finish wrapping up your order--” he turns to narrow his eyes at Jeno, who yelps and scurries off to pack up the bag--“can I get you a bubble tea or something? On the house," he adds, when Yoonoh opens his mouth to protest. "And seriously, these are the cheapest things we make. We make a killing off of these. It’s literally no problem."

 

"That... would be nice, thanks." And Yoonoh smiles at him.

 

He has dimples. _Dimples_ **.**

 

 _Oh_ , Dongyoung thinks distantly, _I’m so fucked_.


End file.
